IRVINE, Calif. (AP) -- Greg Ethington scored 17 points and Ross Schraeder made two free throws with 11.5 seconds to play to lead UC Irvine to a 56-53 victory over UC Riverside on Saturday night.
Aaron Fitzgerald added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Anteaters (11-10, 5-8 Big West Conference), who broke a three-game losing streak.
Steve Williams scored 14 points and Brent Ost added 13 for the Highlanders (8-14, 3-9), who have lost four of their last five.
Irvine held a 48-41 lead with 8:12 to play but Riverside used a 12-6 run to narrow its deficit to 54-53 on Larry Cunningham's driving layup with 12.3 seconds remaining.
After Schraeder made two free throws, Cunningham dribbled toward the basket and passed to Ost for a 3-point shot that would have forced overtime, but Cunningham passed as the final buzzer sounded.
The Anteaters shot 37 percent in the second half after making 58.3 percent of their shots in the first half.
Riverside scored 15 points off turnovers.
